I tried several methods to make butter but they always ended up tasting terrible. I finally settled on this method that leaves no plant taste and it is easy to get the same strength of butter every time.
First let me say that I never use "quality"bud. I generally save trim that most people would throw away and use it to make butter. Even with that, I first run the trim through my O'keif tumbler. Then I dry what is left until it is very dry. Then I powder it in the blender. I set aside this powder to extract the oil from it.
I extract the oil using isopropyl alcohol. I get 91% isopropyl at Walmart. I usually extract oil in smaller amounts at a time and save it in a large jar for later use. To extract, I usually put two heaping spoons full of the powdered leaf in an 8 ounce jar and pour in enough alcohol to cover it well. I put the lid on the jar and shake for about a minute. Then I pour the contents through a paper coffee filter and let it drain into a container. I made a press to put the filter in and squeeze out the rest of the oil. Before I made the press, I was using a lemon squeezer. I make this small amount at a time because a larger batch is too hard to squeeze and you really need to squeeze out the best part of the oil. I just consolidate the small batches of oil into one quart jar. You don't need to evaporate off the alcohol until you are ready to use.
In order to get an accurate weight, I take a pint jar, weigh it, and mark it. Then I put a small amount of the alcohol and oil mix in the jar and set it aside. I prefer to let the alcohol evaporate naturally but when I am in a hurry I set a fan blowing over the jar. I don't like to heat it at this stage. As it dries out, I keep weighing and adding until I get the desired weight of oil in the bottom of the jar. For brownies, I prefer 5 g of oil.
When I am ready to cook, I put the proper amount of butter into the jar and heat it in the oven at 200° for about an hour. For brownies, I actually prefer coconut oil. This makes a convenient batch of butter/oil that is easily poured into your mix.Then I use my favorite brownie mix according to its instructions.
This method is convenient so that you don't have to keep a big batch of butter all the time and you can always assure consistent strength.
Note: I use isopropyl alcohol because it does not have the additives that rubbing alcohol has. Nonetheless, you always want to make sure that it evaporates so that you cannot smell any alcohol. You actually want to evaporate it well beyond that because the last thing to evaporate is the water and you know that you are not going to get any effect out of the water!
First let me say that I never use "quality"bud. I generally save trim that most people would throw away and use it to make butter. Even with that, I first run the trim through my O'keif tumbler. Then I dry what is left until it is very dry. Then I powder it in the blender. I set aside this powder to extract the oil from it.
I extract the oil using isopropyl alcohol. I get 91% isopropyl at Walmart. I usually extract oil in smaller amounts at a time and save it in a large jar for later use. To extract, I usually put two heaping spoons full of the powdered leaf in an 8 ounce jar and pour in enough alcohol to cover it well. I put the lid on the jar and shake for about a minute. Then I pour the contents through a paper coffee filter and let it drain into a container. I made a press to put the filter in and squeeze out the rest of the oil. Before I made the press, I was using a lemon squeezer. I make this small amount at a time because a larger batch is too hard to squeeze and you really need to squeeze out the best part of the oil. I just consolidate the small batches of oil into one quart jar. You don't need to evaporate off the alcohol until you are ready to use.
In order to get an accurate weight, I take a pint jar, weigh it, and mark it. Then I put a small amount of the alcohol and oil mix in the jar and set it aside. I prefer to let the alcohol evaporate naturally but when I am in a hurry I set a fan blowing over the jar. I don't like to heat it at this stage. As it dries out, I keep weighing and adding until I get the desired weight of oil in the bottom of the jar. For brownies, I prefer 5 g of oil.
When I am ready to cook, I put the proper amount of butter into the jar and heat it in the oven at 200° for about an hour. For brownies, I actually prefer coconut oil. This makes a convenient batch of butter/oil that is easily poured into your mix.Then I use my favorite brownie mix according to its instructions.
This method is convenient so that you don't have to keep a big batch of butter all the time and you can always assure consistent strength.
Note: I use isopropyl alcohol because it does not have the additives that rubbing alcohol has. Nonetheless, you always want to make sure that it evaporates so that you cannot smell any alcohol. You actually want to evaporate it well beyond that because the last thing to evaporate is the water and you know that you are not going to get any effect out of the water!
